The present invention relates generally to flush poke-through fittings, and more particularly, to a flush poke-through fitting that provides easy interchangeability of data jack mounts and flexibility in the orientation of the electrical outlets.
One problem commonly encountered in the maintenance and renovation of a facility, a multi-floor office building for example, is how to safely and efficiently add access to electrical power and data communication lines in areas not provided for in the original architectural and electrical planning. Poke-through fittings have offered one alternative to the use of above-ground conduits in providing such access.
A poke-through fitting is an apparatus developed for use in an interfloor hole, typically of two (2) to four (4) inch diameter, formed by drilling through a concrete floor of a multistory building. Power and communication lines are routed beneath the floor and up through the hole, allowing access in a desired location, while avoiding the inconvenience and safety hazards of running such cables above-ground.
The installation of poke-through fittings in an existing multistory concrete slab structure not only provides additional access sites to power and communication lines, therefore increasing the potential number of office workstations, for example, but also allows a way to update or replace an outdated wiring and communications cabling infrastructure. With the rapid technological changes occurring in the communications industry, such updates are becoming more frequently necessary, often requiring different wiring schemes and new data communications connectors. A new challenge has arisen, therefore, to design a more flexible poke-through fitting that can keep pace with the ever-changing and demanding requirements of the modern workstation. The need exists for easy interchangeability of data jack mounts, and flexibility in electrical outlet orientation in the poke-through fitting.
Typically, it is desirable that a poke-through fitting be flush with the floor level to minimize tripping hazards, but flush floor fittings generally have the disadvantage of limited space within the fitting for wiring. Therefore, prior art flush fittings typically require complicated bus bar configurations to accommodate several electrical outlets. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,028 to DeBartolo, Jr. et al. discloses a poke-through fitting with four electrical outlets directly mounted to a housing and four communication jacks side-mounted in alternating fashion to the same housing, and bus bars that are molded to the particular electrical outlet configuration. In one example, one of four three-pronged electrical outlets is rotated by 180 degrees relative to the other three outlets. Three bus bars are used to connect the ground, neutral, and hot contacts, respectively, between the four electrical outlets, and are shaped to allow this particular orientation of the electrical outlets.
The poke-through devices of the prior art also lack easy interchangeability of data communication ports to accommodate variations in cabling needs. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,130 to Bonilla, like the '028 patent discussed above, discloses a poke-through fitting that has the power receptacles and telecommunication jacks both mounted directly to the housing. Disassembly of the poke-through fitting is required to access them. Consequently, modification of the data communications wiring to modernize cabling infrastructure using the prior art poke-through fittings is cumbersome, and interchangeability of data jacks likely necessitates an interruption in electrical power service to the work area.
There is a need, therefore, for a flush poke-through device that provides both electrical power outlets and data communication ports, and allows easy interchangeability of data jack mounts and flexibility in the electrical power outlet orientation.